This invention relates to the use of polymeric biguanides as topical contraceptive agents, which operate both by rendering vaginal mucus impenetrable to sperm, or by a direct spermicidal action.

Thermoforming machines with a heating station and a downstream mold station have carrier clamp frames for gripping the edges of sheets of plastic at a load station and indexing them successively to a heating station and a mold station. The carrier frame members to which the plastic may be releasably clamped carry their own remotely operated clamps and are themselves expandable and contractible to a condition in which, prior to molding, they control the sag in the sheet formed during heating of t...

The invention is concerned with a change in the current practice of dyeing natural and synthetic polyamide materials with reactive dyestuffs. The invention involves pre-treating the material to be dyed with an amphoteric auxiliary in a bath which is brought rapidly to the later dyeing temperature and which contains an amphoteric auxiliary preferably at a pH buffered within a specific range. It is found that the pre-treated material takes on the reactive dyestuff very readily and that the dyed ma...

An improved method for bagging material, particularly granular material in which the material is first placed into a bag, the bag is closed by bringing the lips of the open end together and folding them over, preferably with a double fold, a discontinuous seal is then made along the closure, the bag is then subjected to atmospheric pressure.

An improved method of constructing a building wherein separate pipes for hot and cold water are passed through a floor or wall structure and the opposite ends of each of these pipes are subsequently connected to appropriate water supply and water discharge means. The improvement comprises positioning a loosely fitted plastic sheath over each pipe at the point where the pipe passes through the floor or wall structure so that the sheath is exposed on both sides of the structure, the sheath for the...

Catheter tubes of elastomeric material having novel lumen shapes which prevent occlusion and accommodate continued liquid flow even when kinked. Also, catheter tube slit valves are disclosed, the walls of which are not chemically weakened. Symmetrical and asymmetrical versions of said slit valves are disclosed. Combinations of highly reliable slip valves and catheter tubes are disclosed. Independently operable multi-lumen catheter assemblies of synthetic material, such as silicone rubber are dis...

Methods are disclosed for regulating ovulation or fertility in female mammals, for regulating spermatogenesis in males and for treating conditions such as endometriosis. Administration of effective amounts of an FSH-Inhibiting Protein (FSH-IP) can be used for female contraception and also for male contraception by preventing sperm production. FSH-IP, in its native form, is a glycosylated protein having an apparent molecular weight of about 50,000 Daltons (50kD) which inhibits the production of e...

A denitrizing catalyst which comprises: (a) an alkali metal oxide or an alkaline earth metal oxide in amounts of 50-90% by weight as oxides; (b) at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of Co.sub.3 O.sub.4, Cu.sub.2 O, Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, Mn.sub.2 O.sub.3, NiO, PbO, Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3, MoO.sub.2, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, SiO.sub.2, ZrO.sub.2, Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2, WO.sub.3, MoO.sub.3, SnO.sub.2 and ZnO in amounts of 5-50% by weight as oxides; and (c) at least one metal or at least...

An improved multi-stage treatment system for biological denitrification of and suspended solids removal from water includes a biological reactor containing rigid media supporting denitrifying bacterial growths, an aeration chamber and an automatic backwash filter. In use, methanol or other carbon source containing influent water flows into the reactor beneath the rigid media and upwardly in contact with said bacterial growths to cause nitrates and nitrites contained therein to be converted into ...

An electrochemical specific binding assay of a ligand (e.g., antigen, hapten or antibody) wherein at least one of the components is enzyme-labelled, and which includes the step of determining the extent to which the transfer of electrons between the enzyme substrate and an electrode, associated with the substrate reaction, is perturbed by complex formation or by displacement of any ligand complex relative to unbound enzyme-labelled component. The electron transfer is aided by electron-transfer m...